Lite-On aims for laptop displays with Cree patent
Taiwan-based optoelectronics company Lite-On has signed a licensing deal with Cree over the North Carolina firm's phosphor conversion technology.
Although Cree has previously licensed patent 6,600,175 to customers including Cotco, Kingbright and Stanley Electric, the latest deal specifically authorizes Lite-On to manufacture and sell "light bars" incorporating Cree's white LEDs for backlighting LCD displays in laptop computers.
Cree is targeting this potentially lucrative new market as it looks to move up the LED industry food chain, and has already built its own "Colorwave" backlight units that offer 11 per cent more lumens per Watt than the cold-cathode fluorescent lamps typically used in current laptop displays.
Scott Schwab, the general manager of optoelectronics at Cree, said, "This arrangement is an important first step to addressing the emerging LED market in laptop displays."
"This marks the first license that Cree has granted specifically for a system-level application targeting laptop displays," added the Durham, NC, firm.
Both Cree and Lite-On say that the deal will help them to aggressively develop and market large-scale LED display backlights.
• The forthcoming October issue of Compound Semiconductor magazine features an interview with Cree s senior management on the company s current transition.
